1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge recycling information apparatus and a corresponding method thereof, as well as a cartridge to be recycled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to ask the manufacturer to collect used cartridges, the user is required to send a recycling request form with recycling information, which includes the number of cartridges and the postal address, the telephone number, and the facsimile number of a cartridge recycle center, to the manufacturer. In many cases, a copy of the recycling request form is supplied with a commercially available cartridge in a package.
At the time of replacement of a used cartridge, the user should search for a copy of the recycling request form, which has been supplied in the package, to obtain the recycling information. Namely the user can not readily receive the recycling information. There are some Web sites to provide recycling request forms for cartridges on the Internet (for example, see online service ‘Return Box Request Sheet’ by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION ‘[retrieved on Sep. 13, 2002], Internet <URL: http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp/products/toner/sheet.htm>). This method, however, requires the user to access the corresponding Web site and thus does not ensure the user's easy acquisition of the recycling request form.